agent: A factor, such as a microorganism, chemical substance, or form of radiation, whose presence, excessive presence, or (in deficiency diseases) relative absence is essential for the occurrence of a disease. age-specific mortality rate: A mortality rate limited to a particular age group. The numerator is the number of deaths in that age group; the denominator is the number of persons in that age group in the population.
Sleeping Pills and Memory Loss. Elderly people have more trouble sleeping than younger folks. Some causes include waking to urinate, pain due to arthritis or other inflammations and lack of exercise. Sleeping pills can help, but they have a dark side. They can cause memory loss.
How they can cause memory loss: Benzodiazepines dampen activity in key parts of the brain, including those involved in the transfer of events from short-term to long-term memory. Indeed, benzodiazepines are used in anesthesia for this very reason.